


I Thought I Saw A Kittycat

by Varewulf



Series: MMO Adventures with Ako and Rinko [2]
Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, playing videogames, plus surprise bonus characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 18:46:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15467670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Varewulf/pseuds/Varewulf
Summary: Ako and Rinko set out to complete some bounties in their favourite MMO, when they come across a new player in trouble, and decide to help out.





	I Thought I Saw A Kittycat

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't help doing a follow-up to Ako and Rinko's MMO adventures. It's a fun little setting, and I had another idea for a surprise figure they could run into. Like last time I'm not tagging who it is, so as to preserve the surprise, but I'll admit I am not being at all subtle about who it is. So no prizes if you guess correctly, except maybe a sense of cleverness.
> 
> I approached this as a sort of stand-alone episode rather than a direct sequel, so certain things will be re-explained. You should be able to read this one even if you didn't read the previous one, should that be desired for any reason.
> 
> Also, I almost did a meme.

By the fountain on the main plaza, in the city of Torellia, in the online gameworld of Bright Wonder, stood a large figure covered head to toe in silver plate armour. It was always a bright and sunny day in Torellia, so the figure gleamed in the light, and drew the eye of everyone walking by.

AionSeraph (Exalted Paladin, level 500) calmly gazed out across the plaza. Her player, Shirokane Rinko, actually didn't mind drawing attention while in this game. Very contrary to real life, it didn't bother her that everyone was looking at her here. Inside this shell of enchanted plate armour that covered an avatar she piloted remotely, she felt safe. Here she was a max level player, decked out with impressive gear that served as badges of her achievements. She had spent a lot of time making sure her character looked right. In here she was powerful, and admired.

She wondered if the rest of Roselia would be surprised if they knew what sort of character she played. A large, dazzling figure who made herself the centre of attention by her mere presence. A shield to protect friends and party members. It was something she could never imagine happening offline.

It was weird to think back now to when she first joined the band, and didn't even want to talk about games offline. Not that that ever stopped her beloved Ako. Gradually Rinko also felt okay talking about games while the rest of Roselia were present. Though she wasn't sure how much they understood. She and Ako talked on a pretty advanced level, after all.

Speaking of, a sound alerted her to someone joining her voice chat channel, and there was only one person that could be.

"Rin-Rin!" There were some scratching noises, probably from Ako adjusting her microphone. "I'm sorry I kept you waiting. I had to help with the dishes."

Rinko smiled. "That's okay, Ako-chan. I haven't waited long." Not long enough to make a fuss over, at least.

"Hang on, I'm logging in now! I've got something really cool to show you!" Ako sounded beside herself with excitement, which made Rinko rather curious.

" _DarkHerald has logged on_ ," said a system message. Rinko's friends list was set up to always let her know if Ako logged on or off.

A few seconds later a tall figure materialised not far from where Rinko was standing. DarkHerald (Cursed Summoner, level 419) was the player character of Udagawa Ako. A tall elf with long red hair, and blue eyes, clad in a black and crimson robe that gave off a dark aura.

"Check this out!" Ako said. She drew her staff, which looked like a spiral made of three lengths of black chrome, and started casting. Soon enough the little elemental minions she could summon to help out during combat started popping up. Fire, wind, water, earth, and spirit. Except they now looked like a bunch of fiends. Little demons. "Aren't they cool?! I got third prize in the summoner class gacha!"

Ako had won an item that changed the appearance of her minions. It had no impact on their stats or abilities, it was a purely cosmetic change, but it seemed like a perfect fit for Ako.

The fire elemental was now a red imp with a tail that had a flame at the tip. Wind was a green imp with wings. Water had fish-like scales, and webbed feet and hands, like some short demonic merfolk. Earth was an imp-like gargoyle. But spirit was not like an imp at all, and instead looked like a short Death. A black robe with bony hands sticking out, and floating around with no feet. The cowl didn't show any of the face, but you could see two blue points of light in there. And it held a scythe in its hands. The very model of Death incarnate, except it was barely more than half a metre tall.

"They're very cool, Ako-chan," Rinko said earnestly. She was very impressed that Ako had managed to win something that suited her so perfectly.

"Now I am a demon lord, using my dark powers, and leading my minions to... um... conquer the world... or something..." Ako said.

While Ako had a habit of trailing off, Rinko still thought it was cool when she did that voice.

"A-anyway," Ako cleared her throat. "We're doing bounty targets today, right?"

"Right," Rinko confirmed. The weekly reset for bounties had occurred, and they'd be able to accept new ones. It wasn't exactly as exciting as it might sound, and they could really only do up to rank 3 on their own, but the rewards were good. They might do some higher ranked ones another day if Bonsai came along.

They made their way towards the edge of town, to the point where they could use their mounts.

Rinko's mount of choice was a polar bear, which might seem strange for a bearkin to ride. But she liked the little santa hat it had on, even though it was the middle of summer now. It was a limited event mount she had earned for clearing a seasonal dungeon.

Ako had also earned that mount, but she preferred a skeletal horse with green flames in its chest cavity, and draped in tattered purple vestments. It had been a random drop from a dungeon boss in the previous expansion, and she had won the roll for it.

Their first target was located to the north, which meant they'd have to ride through the woodlands. Semur Woods was a low-level area, like all the ones directly outside Torellia, and was typically the second zone adventurers would go to after clearing Torel Fields right outside the city gates. It was either that, or the marshlands to the south, and honestly the woods were prettier. The trees were well spaced apart so the place didn't feel gloomy, and you could see colourful sprites and pixies moving through the leaves overhead. There was an elven trading post near the entry to the woods that served as the main quest hub. It was the natural first stop for players entering the area.

Ako and Rinko just rode right past it without even slowing down. They hadn't had any business there for ages, so it barely even registered as existing for them by this point.

It was more interesting to see the various low-level characters milling about among the trees, probably on some quest or another, or chasing a public event. Even though the game was several years old now, there always seemed to be a fair amount of new players joining, or perhaps it was mainly old players levelling alt characters. Regardless, it was rare for any zone, no matter its level, to not have a bunch of player characters running around.

"Rin-Rin, look." Ako suddenly spoke up when they were about halfway through the woods.

Rinko scanned the area, and quickly spotted what Ako was referring to. A low-level player fighting two wolves, a panther, and a goblin. They were clearly cornered, with their health bar getting dangerously low. At this point they probably wouldn't make it even if they tried to run away.

Death was not harshly punished in Bright Wonder. You just respawned at the nearest settlement, and there wasn't any loss of experience or items. There was also the option to respawn at wherever you had set as your home point. So dying was honestly not a big deal. Still, it didn't feel right to just leave this person to their fate.

"Ako-chan."

"Right."

The two of them jumped off of their mounts, and drew their weapons.

"Dread wave!"

A wave of black smoke containing dark purple skulls flew forth from Ako's staff. There was no need to worry about friendly fire outside of the areas specifically set up for PvP, so the spell passed harmlessly through the adventurer, and instantly vanquished the mobs attacking them. They all exploded into showers of sparkles.

"Tear of light!"

Rinko cast the weakest healing spell a paladin possessed, but with the huge level difference it still healed over ten times the amount of the max health the low-level player had. The effect even splashed onto the panther by the player's side, and the two of them realised it was not another mob, but in fact the player's pet.

Their character had to be a Beastmaster, a variant of the Ranger category. They got a pet companion of their choice (bears, wolves, and panthers were among the starting choices, and more could be unlocked later), but still mainly used ranged weapons for attacking. The idea was to have the pet keep the attention of the mobs, while the player stood back, and fired projectiles and spells. It just seemed like the two of them had been overwhelmed this time. It was common for inexperienced players to accidentally draw the attention of too many mobs at once. Aggro ranges could be hard to judge, and keeping track of everything going on took some getting used to.

The character they had saved turned towards them.

" _Thank you_ ," they typed in the default Say channel. It was a close-range chat that no one outside of the immediate area could see.

They played a catgirl, which was really no surprise. They were the second most popular choice among the player-base. They were quite short, to the point where Rinko thought they must have set the height slider to its absolute minimum. It gave them a cute, kitten-like appearance. They had grey fur, grey... no, silver hair, and yellow eyes. Their nameplate said KonekoNeko (Beastmaster, level 17), and their dark-furred panther pet was named Koneko-chan. Rinko was sensing a theme.

" _You're welcome!_ " Ako typed in response, and used the basic greeting emote: A friendly wave.

And there was something strange about their gear. It looked a little too coordinated for this level, not to mention rather basic. Rinko used the Inspect function, and had her suspicion confirmed. KonekoNeko was still using all level 1 equipment. Sort of amazing they had gotten this far in spite of that. Surely they must have gotten something better from drops or quest rewards by that point.

" _Are you a new player?_ " Rinko asked.

" _Yes. I started last week_ ," Neko replied.

Rinko wondered whether they maybe hadn't gamed much before this, considering the state of things. It was a rather complex game to be someone's starting point, as it assumed a certain level of gaming literacy. Yet this person had stuck with it.

"Hey, Rin-Rin. Do you think we should help them out?" Ako asked, saying exactly what Rinko was thinking.

"I'd like that, Ako-chan," Rinko replied. Maybe if the two of them taught Neko more about how to play, they'd have more fun.

" _Would you like us to help you out a little?_ " Ako asked them.

Rinko could only imagine what it looked like to have an ominously dressed elf, and a giant paladin, suddenly show up like this when you had barely started the game, but she hoped they weren't too frightening.

" _We can teach you about how to play_ ," Rinko added.

" _I wouldn't want to impose on your time_ ," the tiny catgirl replied.

" _Don't worry about it!_ " Ako said.

" _We wouldn't offer if we weren't sincere_ ," Rinko assured them. " _Helping someone feel welcome is a good thing_."

" _Okay. I accept your kind offer._ "

So Ako and Rinko abandoned their plans to chase bounties without a second thought, and instead spent a while teaching KonekoNeko about the game. There was a basic tutorial when someone started the game, so Neko had figured out the basics of movement and combat, and how to accept and complete quests. But as Rinko had suspected, they didn't really understand the menus or how to access them very well. Based on their reaction, they might have never seen the equipment screen before.

They did indeed have some gear that had been automatically picked up from slain enemies, and gotten from quest rewards, so first order of business was guiding Neko through how to find and equip what they had. Afterwards their player character looked a lot more like the sort of mismatched mess you'd expect of a player at this level. A red vest, some yellow flared trousers, brown sandals, and a brown flat cap. Not elegant in the least, but they were a lot stronger now.

Next came assigning skill points, and placing abilities and spells on the hotbar. It was a little awkward to try to explain everything through text chat, especially when Neko didn't get all the terminology at first, but they eventually got there.

After all of that was sorted, they wanted to try to guide Neko through some combat encounters. The two of them wouldn't do anything unless Neko got into too much trouble, as they wanted Neko to learn how to use their abilities, and how the commands for the pet worked. Koneko-chan had a couple of abilities of her own.

It was a little slow going, but they were steadily making progress. Ako and Rinko were both happy to see it, and kept commenting to each other over voice chat the whole time.

Though there was something they discovered that Neko had figured out on their own. After each combat encounter they would crouch down, use the petting emote on Koneko-chan, and type " _Good kitty_ " in the chat. Neither Ako nor Rinko were sure how Neko had figured out how to do that when they had struggled with so much else. Some of which was arguably easier.

"Do you think they looked up a guide on how to do that?" Ako asked over voice chat.

"That seems strange... but I'm not sure I have a better explanation," Rinko said. She imagined someone typing something like " _how to pet cat in bright wonder_ " into a search engine. Different things were important to different people, she supposed.

After some time in the woods, they joined Neko as they headed back to the trading post to hand in all the quests they had completed. The three of them had to have been hanging out for an hour or two. So it wasn't really a surprise what KonekoNeko typed next.

" _I have to go now. Thank you very much for helping me out_ ," they said.

" _You're very welcome_ ," Rinko said.

" _See you later, Neko-san,_ " Ako said. " _Remember you can always contact us if you need anything. Or want to say hi!_ "

" _Okay, thank you_ ," Neko said before vanishing.

" _KonekoNeko has logged off_ ," said a system message.

They had added each other on their friends lists, so they could stay in touch. Assuming Neko wanted to.

"Hm... did they kinda remind you of someone, Rin-Rin?" Ako asked.

"Hm..." Rinko thought it over. "I'm not sure... but now that you mention it... there was something familiar... that I can't place."

"Yeah, I'm not sure either, just a feeling... well, I guess I should go too," Ako said a little reluctantly. "Onee-chan is probably going to come asking about my homework soon, so I might as well get started."

Rinko smiled. It sounded like it might be nice to have a sister. "Okay. Good luck. Love you, Ako-chan."

"Love you too, Rin-Rin!"

* * *

It was a warm day at Haneoka Girls' High School. Mercifully there was a breeze blowing, which you could especially feel on the rooftop. So naturally several students had gone up there to have lunch. Among them was Imai Lisa, and Minato Yukina.

Lisa had made the lunches for both of them, and was always really happy to see Yukina enjoying her cooking. Usually Lisa would be the one leading their conversations, as Yukina could be rather reserved, but that day it was Yukina who spoke first.

"Lisa. Did you know there are games where you can play a cat?" Yukina asked.

Lisa had no idea where that had come from. "I didn't... but I guess that isn't surprising," she said. There were a lot of games, after all. They weren't exactly her kind of thing, but she supposed it made sense that there would be at least one where you were a cat.

"I saw an ad for one last week. It had a picture of a cat, and the Spanish word for cat on it." Yukina's voice sounded fairly monotone at all times, but Lisa knew Yukina well enough that she could tell when she sounded excited. That, along with the light blush on Yukina's cheeks told Lisa that whatever it was Yukina had found, she was really into it. It was rare for Yukina to be this interested in anything that wasn't music, but if it involved cats it made some sense... though she hadn't been aware that Yukina knew the word for cat in different languages.

"I see..." Lisa said.

"So I investigated, and learned that I could play a cat in the game. On top of that one of the classes let me have a cat as a pet. She is very cute. I named her Koneko-chan. Imagine that, a cat with a cat." Yukina's eyes were sparkling as she talked about this.

Lisa couldn't bear how cute Yukina was being, and suddenly hugged her close.

"L-Lisa?"

"Heehee, you're so cute when you talk about cats, Yukina," Lisa said cheerfully. She was also happy Yukina was willing to be open about her love of cats these days.

Yukina blushed deeper. "Cats are important, Lisa."


End file.
